The Sound of Your Voice
by The Silver Souls
Summary: One year ago, Clarke was involved in a car accident. She suffers permanent damages and her family and friends are worrying about her. Abby, Octavia and Raven talked her about a support group and she agreed to go to please them.
1. Chapter 1

**Hello everyone! This is not my first story about Clarke and Lexa. English is my second language and I'm doing my best to make sense. I had this idea of story for a long time, but I was not quite sure about it and I can't tell if you guys will like it or not. I hope you will, because I have a lot of ideas for future chapters. I will try to do two updates a week. I don't know how many chapters I will write yet. I do not own anything.**

 **Please, giving a feedback is always nice! Let me know what you think about it, whatever your opinion is. Thank you and enjoy reading!**

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Life is already hard enough as an eighteen years old girl going through her first year of pre-med studies in college. Between school, studies and a part-time job as a waitress in a small restaurant, there is not much more time for having a social life. Forget all the parties, movie's nights and hang outs, just because there is the need to succeed in every classes in order to become a great doctor or surgeon. It was way more Clarke's mother's dream than hers, but she always wanted to save people's lives because it was important for her. It was a part of herself that needed to be complete.

But what if everything changed in only a fraction of second?

Everything did changed in a fraction of second. It was all it took for Clarke and her father, Jake. Less than a second. She has no memory of it, yet her mother was the one to tell her the awful and sad news about the accident. Three cars involved, seven deaths and Clarke was the only one to get out of there alive. She was in an awful state, having multiple serious injuries that needed her to be in surgery for about eight hours, but she made it. Abby was stressed, because she was not allowed to perform the surgery herself, because it would have been unprofessional or something, yet she was the best surgeon of the hospital. Clarke would have liked to be taken care by Abby, but she was unconscious at the time and couldn't request her mother.

The first time she woke up, Clarke knew something was wrong. Even though she opened her eyes, there was nothing but darkness and it wasn't because it was the night. She could clearly hear every noises in the hospital, people talking, sounds of machine, everything, yet she couldn't see a damn thing.

The verdict came up few hours after she woke up; the doctors knew there was some permanent damages to her eyesight, because of the impact of the accident. She had a bad concussion and it turned out worse than they imagined it. They said that she was still lucky to be alive and well, even though she had a detached retina. Which meant… she was no longer be able to see, because the damages to her eyes were a _permanent_ side effect of how her head violently banged against the passenger's door.

In other words, Clarke was blind and there was nothing she could do about it.

Abby told her multiples times that she would be able to adapt herself quickly, because she was a strong young woman and that she always had been a fast learner. That was not the immediate problem; what about her future? There was no way she could actually follow her studies in pre-med, because no hospital would allow a blind human being to work for them. She had to face the reality of her new condition. She had to re-think about her future and there was a lot of thing she would not be able to do. People would treat her differently, just because she was blind. She was not looking for _pity_.

It took a lot of time before she could get out of the hospital, but she eventually did. She dropped out of school, because there was no way Clarke would continue pre-med or start another program in the middle of the school year. First of all, she needed to learn how to not collide into every single object in her way and adapt herself to her own home.

Things were feeling different. She had the image in her head of where things were in the house, but she needed to calculate precisely how many steps there was in the stairwells. Let's not even talk about making food, she almost burnt down the house once.

Even a year after the accident, Clarke was still spending most of her time inside her house, alone. Her workaholic mother had a hard time dealing with Clarke's disability and her husband's death, so she was practically drowning in work to forget how hard it was for her daughter and herself to live in that situation.

Clarke was moping and the only thing that could calm herself was spending time with Raven and Octavia, her long-time best friends. Even though things were not the same anymore, because she could never be the old Clarke again, it was still good to spend time with them. They always came over the Griffin's house to be with the blonde, only to watch (perhaps, I should say _hear_ ) TV shows or to talk about what was going on in the two brunette's life.

Between work and taking care of Clarke, Abby was pretty much close to a breakdown. She had so much on her hands and she couldn't stand watching her only daughter doing nothing but listening to music or TV all day. Clarke needed new friends, perhaps someone with the same disability, so it could the blonde to not be afraid of living, even though she was now blind.

It wasn't really a surprise for Clarke to hear Octavia, Raven and Abby talking to her about how she needed to meet new people, she really felt it coming. "Honey, there is a support group for blind persons every Tuesdays. We think you should go, make new friends." Abby said to her with her soft voice. Clarke knew she was probably making a sad face. The blonde scoffed and shook her head. There was no way her mother would drag her in a support group of anything, she was completely capable of going through this on her own.

"This could help you, Clarke." Raven's concerned voice came up. "I know you like spending time with us, but we can't show you how to go through all of this. All we can do is support you…"

"Come on, you can't just always stay inside your house forever." Octavia said and Clarke felt a hand on her knee, knowing it was her.

"I am totally fine staying inside the house." Clarke answered with a sharp and frustrated voice. She was surprised by her own intonation. "I can barely walk out the front door without stumbling on things. Even if I use my cane." She moved her hands in the air with frustration.

"You don't get it." Abby's voice again. "Your friends are right; you will eventually _need_ to go outside by yourself and function like a normal human being. You may be blind, honey, but you know you can still do things. We are just looking out for you…"

"Okay, okay." Clarke was frustrated, yet she knew they were still right at some point. "I'll go to your support group thing tonight and we'll see how this works." She sighed. "But if I don't like the people there, I won't go back."

"Thank you." She heard her mother say softly, happy to hear her daughter agree with her for once.

"We also found this company that are training dogs to help disabled persons." Raven started after clearing her throat. "We thought having one could help."

"You want me to have a guide dog?"

Abby answered the question. "If you would like to have one, of course."

"I was sad there were no guide cats." Octavia mumbled, which made Clarke burst into laughter.

"Of course you were, O."

And that was how Clarke ended up agreeing to show up to the disabled persons group support and having a guide dog to help her in her every day routine. She had to admit herself that she had been pretty frustrated about this particular conversation with her mom and her best friends, but she was feeling, for once, that things were going to get better for her.


	2. Chapter 2

Later the same day Abby talked to Clarke about the support group for blind people, Clarke got herself ready with Octavia and Raven's help. They stayed over for dinner and picked out new clothes and they say that she was looking gorgeous "As always", they said. The blonde crossed her arms on her chest, reminding her best friends that she couldn't care less of what she was wearing, because she was about to meet blind persons and they wouldn't even see her.

Raven mumbled something like "whatever" and supervised her friend getting down the stairs. Clarke was getting better at it and it made her really proud in some ways, because the blonde was no longer afraid of stairs. Raven was usually the first one helping her friend moving around and outside the house, just because she wanted her to feel safe wherever she wanted to go.

Abby was waiting for her daughter in the living room. They got outside and Clarke pulled out her white cane, moving it around to feel the ground and get to the car. She almost bumped in it, but stopped when he cane touched the tire. She moved her hand to the hood, finding her way to the mirror and finally to the handle. Clarke cautiously opened the door and got inside the vehicle.

"See you around, Clarkey." Octavia said, when Clarke pulled down the window. Clarke knew she was close, so she moved her arm towards her and felt the skin of her best friend's arm. "We'll pick you up at 9 o'clock. Call us if you need anything or want to get out of there."

"Thank you, O." Clarke answered with a smile on her lips. She took her sunglasses and put them on. She was more comfortable with it, mostly in public, because she didn't wanted to look into her eyes to understand that she was blind. She never knew where her eyes were looking or if they were even open, so she wanted to hide them to feel more comfortable around people. Clarke hated the reaction of people when they understand that she was not able to see them.

Abby started the car and drove into the streets. She was often describing where they were going, just to let her daughter know and make her feel safer – being in a car, after a car accident that caused her blindness along with her father's death, it made her really nervous. She panicked the first time she got outside the hospital and she didn't even wanted to get inside the car. She had an anxiety panic and Abby had to call Clarke's best friend to calm her and talked her through the whole driving.

"We're almost there. It's at the corner of Woodland's and Merivale's avenue, you know the small building with Christmas' lights all year long?" I tried to picture the place and I nodded. "The group support will take place in the basement."

She parked the car and Clarke started to be nervous. Her hands were sweating and she was not sure about meeting other blind people. That was a group support and she didn't even wanted to be there at first. Was she supposed to share her story with them? Were they knowing that there will be another person into the group that night?

"What if they don't like me?" Clarke asked, while her mother was helping her to get out of the car, even if she didn't really needed it. Abby was overprotective when she was around her daughter and it was with good reasons. Knowing that her baby girl, her only child, was blind… it was like putting a dagger into her heart. This, along with her husband's death. She missed Jake so bad and Clarke was so much like him.

"Clarke." Her mother sighed and held her arm. "They will like you. You just need to open yourself a bit more." Her daughter grunted and Abby started walking. "You don't have to tell everything about yourself if you don't feel like it. What I just want is that you introduce yourself to new people and be nice."

"I am nice." Clarke answered back and she imagined her mother rolling her eyes. "Okay, I will introduce myself and be on my best behaviour, you have my word."

"That's my girl." I could feel her slowing down and she told me there few steps before getting to the door. She helped me and opened the door.

They had to go through stairs again and they finally got to the basement, where Clarke could hear a few voices. Three male's voices and two female's. Abby probably came earlier before the meeting, so there were probably more persons to come.

Clarke notified that someone was walking toward them, quick and softs steps. She heard a male's voice greeting them. "Abby! I'm glad you could bring her." The man said. He seemed young, but it was hard for the blonde to tell. "I'm glad to see you here, Clarke."

I scoffed and handed my hand. He grabbed it and shook it, then released me. "Darling, this is Jackson. You met him at the hospital just before you got out." Clarke understood why the voice sounded familiar now.

"I'm glad to meet you again." She genuinely said.

"I will be supervising the meeting and guiding you through it, if you want. Feel free to ask me anything."

"Thank you."

Clarke heard him walking away of them and she turned to put a hand on her mother's shoulder. "I will wait with you until it starts, if you're okay with that." Clarke agreed and they found a way to a couch to sit on. "I can feel you thinking, Clarke."

"Hmmm? Oh, yeah. Just a bit nervous, that's all."

"Do you want me to stay for the meeting?"

"No, no… you have to get to work soon and you should get some rest before your shift starts." Abby was a high ranked surgeon in the town's hospital and she needed to get sleep before getting to work. One surgeon does not go to work with a sleepy head. Her mother had to be fully awake to perform surgeries and everything. She had to save lives. "I'll be fine."

"You can always call Octavia or Raven if anything."

"I know, mom." Abby must have reminded her a thousand times since they got into the car.

Clarke heard a few more voices into the room and Jackson announced that the meeting was about to begin. It was the clue for Abby to leave and she kissed her daughter's forehead to tell her goodbye. Clarke suddenly felt alone and felt her nervousness growing in her chest. She didn't liked being alone in a room full of people, while she could not see how many persons there were.

Her legs were bouncing and she was not paying attention to what was going on. She felt something poking her leg and almost squeaked at the touch, not prepared for any contacts. She sure jumped in her seat, though. "Oh." A soft female voice let out. "I'm sorry, I didn't see you there." The voice said, with a hint of humour. Clarke almost replied something mean, but then she remembered that her mother wanted her to be more open. She also promised to be on her best behaviour for the meeting.

"Hey, you can sit with me if you want." She proposed. A second after, the woman sat next to her and touched her forearm. Clarke was not used to be touched by stranger and she stiffened up a bit.

"I was about to sit anyway." The other girl answered. "But thank you."

She nodded but she knew the girl probably didn't see it. Clarke reminded herself that she had to do that, just because blind people would never see her nodding, smiling or frowning. Or any facial expressions at all.

After a minute of painful silence between them, Clarke tried to say something relevant but got interrupted by the girl's voice again. "My name is Lexa." She realized that Lexa's hand was still on her forearm. She removed it, probably feeling that Clarke was awkwardly not reacting to the touch.

"Nice to meet you, Lexa. I'm Clarke."


	3. Chapter 3

Clarke was sitting on the couch, Lexa at her side. They just met and Clarke was not sure if she had to talk with her, or if they were only waiting for the group support meeting to begin. It only made the blonde more nervous and she knew Lexa must have felt it when she pulled back from the touch.

Clarke heard Jackson's voice announcing that the weekly Tuesday meeting was about to begin and she caught that people sat after. Her legs were still bouncing on the ground and that may had been a way to deal with the stress of the situation. Will she be obligated to talk about herself? How she became blind?

"Clarke, could you please stop shaking your legs?" Lexa's voice told her. Clarke was bothering her and the blonde knew she could be irritating sometimes.

She stopped immediately and Lexa whispered a brief "Thank you", before listening to what Jackson was saying.

"We are welcoming today a new person in the group." He said and Clarke knew he was talking about her. Her hands were sweating and she wished that she could be home now, listening at music and eating cookie dough ice cream with Octavia and Raven. This wouldn't be as stressful as this blind people meeting thing. "Would you like to introduce yourself a bit more, Clarke?"

She cleared her throat, knowing that she was supposed to be on her best behaviour and don't act like a jerk. She needed to be nice and her mother would probably appreciate her daughter's effort to be part of the group. "Hi everyone." She said with a shy voice. "I'm Clarke, 18 years-old and… this is a new situation for me, so my mother wanted me to come to the meeting."

Everyone welcomed Clarke with cheerful voices, but the blonde particularly noticed Lexa's voice amongst the others. She turned her head and smiled, even though the only one that could see her would be Jackson.

In the middle of the support group meeting, Clarke realized that she felt nervous for practically nothing. Including Jackson, there were eleven very welcoming persons that made her very comfortable to talk about herself. Not that she jumped already to the reason she was blind; she already told them that she was still new with her condition and that she needed more time to adapt. Clarke was not ready to talk about her accident and father's death with all these strangers yet.

She also realized that most of them had been knowing each other for a long time too. Clarke felt a bit like an outsider for a moment, but they were still getting her comfortable while talking to her, not trying to push her boundaries or anything. The blonde felt respected and they were not talking to her like a child, like her mother often did in the past year.

She learned that two of the group members were blind because of a bad chemistry recipe that exploded into their eyes, something like that. Monty and Jasper, that were Clarke's age, were best friends since kindergarten and lived together in a small apartment close to the building where the meetings were taking place. Clarke thought that those two were pretty funny. They were living in another town before, but they moved to be closer to Jasper's family.

There was also Fox. She was the youngest of the group and she was 15 years old. Jackson often referred Fox as his 'little ray of sunshine' and Lexa explained to Clarke that they were siblings. The teenager was the reason Jackson wanted to do the meetings, so his little sister would feel safe and meet new people. It was just like Clarke, in the end; getting to know blind people and befriending them.

The others group members were older, between 35 and 50 years old. They didn't caught Clarke's interest, because their backstory were lame and there was nothing very interesting about them.

Her attention went on Lexa, who was just staying at her sides, on the couch. The girl was not speaking to anyone and Clarke even wondered if she had left while she was talking to Monty and Jasper.

"Lexa?" She asked, waiting for an answer.

"Mmm yeah?" Lexa's voice sounded sleepy.

" _Were you taking a nap_?"

"Maybe I was."

Clarke chuckled a bit. "You come to a support group to take naps?"

"Not usually, but I had a crappy long day in school." The girl sighed loudly. "My parents own this building and they wanted me to be at the meetings."

"I don't think you were participating, there."

"Like I said, I'm tired, Clarke." She moved a bit to find a more comfortable position to sit. "And I don't really participate, usually."

Clarke understood that she was not the kind of person that wanted to share her life with a bunch of people in a cheesy building's basement and she understood that, mostly because she didn't wanted to share hers either. Maybe they had a lot in common too.

"And I didn't wanted to come here." Clarke explained. "I think that my mother and best friends are tired of seeing me doing nothing all day. I used to be always out of the house, always had something to do."

"It's not because you are blind that you can't do nothing, you know." Lexa said with a serious tone. Maybe Clarke offended her because of what she said.

"I think things will get easier when I'll get a guide dog. I could go outside on my own." Clarke explained to the girl. "I'm barely capable of moving into my house without bumping into everything."

"I can relate to this too." She heard the girl giggling. "Think of it like an everyday game of Marco Polo."

"Well, the unanimated objects won't say 'Polo' back at me…" I mumbled.

After a few minutes of conversation with Lexa about getting used to walking around the house and some injuries, Jackson told them that the meeting was coming to an end and he'll have to close the basement's door soon. It was the moment for her to leave, but Octavia and Raven were not there yet. Clarke pulled her cellphone and used the vocal tool to call her best friends.

"Where are you? The meeting just ended." Clarke said with an annoyed voice, when Octavia answered her cellphone.

"Clarkey! Sorry, we fell asleep watching a movie, we're coming right away!" Her best friend told her, begging the blonde to forgive them a few times.

After hanging up, she stood up and took her white cane. She walked around and found a door, but she was unsure if it was the exit door. She was a bit frustrated at her friends because they forgot to be there on time and she was in a place she didn't know.

"That's the bathroom's door."

" _Fuck!_ " Clarke jumped in the air and turned her body towards the familiar voice. "Lexa, don't scare me!"

"It was quite tempting, sorry." She poked me with her cane and I realized that we were standing close to each other. "Were you looking for the exit door?"

"Nope." There was a few seconds of silence between the two young women. "Okay, yes. I don't know the place yet and honestly, I stayed on the couch all the time of the meeting."

"It's okay, I'll guide you through this terrifying basement, Clarke."

"Don't talk to me like I'm five or something."

"Shush, just come with me."

"Did you just _shush_ me?!" Clarke exclaimed herself, while Lexa grabbed her wrist and started to guide her to the exit door.

"Watch for the steps." The girl said without paying attention to what Clarke was saying.

They finally made their way out of the building and Clarke could feel the fresh air of the night blowing on her face. Lexa liberated Clarke's wrist and crouched. "Hey, buddy!" Clarke heard the sound of licking and understood that it might have been Lexa's dog licking its owner.

"Your dog?" Clarke asked and she felt a muffle on her hand. The dog was begging to be caressed and the blonde scratched the pet's head vigorously.

"Yes, his name is Bandit."

"Are you serious?" Clarke chuckled and smiled. "You named your dog 'Bandit'?"

"I was eleven when I got him…" The blonde could almost imagine the girl pout at her. The dog let out a whine, then Lexa shushed him and the animal stopped whining immediately. "I'm his second owner. The previous one was a woman in her 60's that needed him a lot, because she couldn't move a lot. She got hospitalized and decided to give him back at the adoption center that raised guide dogs. His name was Tito and I didn't really liked it."

"Okay, I'll give you that, Bandit is a better name than Tito."

"Right, boy?" She said and the dog barked once, letting Lexa know that he was aware and ready to help her with whatever she wanted. Clarke felt a bit jealous at this moment, because Lexa had a pet that followed and helped her anytime. She should have thought about getting a guide dog at the moment she got out of the hospital, after the accident.

Clarke heard the sound of a car pulling over, close to them, and she waited. Someone closed the car's door and walked towards Lexa and her. It could be Lexa's friend, after all.

"Clarke, we're sooo sorry. I told Octavia that we were too tired to watch a kid's movie, but she insisted to watch Frozen and…"

"It's okay Raven, seriously. I would have been surprised to see you getting here on time, actually." The blonde answered, feeling Raven's hand on hers.

"You have so much faith in us, Princess." Octavia said. "Are you good to go?"

Clarke nodded and turned her head in Lexa's direction. The blonde was still petting her dog, so she knew she was still close to her. "Lexa?" The girl hummed in response. "It was nice meeting you."

"I know." She answered and Clarke shook her head at Lexa's narcissism. "It was nice meeting you too, Clarke." Her voice was soft and lovely. "Will you come next Tuesday?"

"Maybe I will." Clarke was seriously thinking about going to the next meeting. Even though things were a little bit weird in the beginning, she met people of her age that went through the same path as hers. She could be friends with them, someday, maybe.


	4. Chapter 4

After saying goodbye to Lexa, Clarke and her best friends got into the car. They headed directly to the Griffin's house and ordered a pizza, because Raven and Octavia were hungry as hell and no longer tired. They waited for the delivery guy to give them the delicious food before settling in the living room to eat together.

"Okay, Clarke." Octavia said to get her best friend's attention. "Tell us how the meeting was."

Clarke knew that they were eager to know how it was, mostly because Clarke never got out of the house without Abby or them. She didn't really trust anyone, because she never felt safe to be left alone.

But the meeting was different than going to the market or just being alone in a public place. She was not completely alone; there were other people of her age that went through a similar path than her. They could relate to the feeling of being in this situation and they treated her very well. The meeting was really interesting and Clarke thought about, maybe, going next Tuesday. This would make her mother and friends happy.

"It went well." She informed Octavia and Raven, after swallowing a bite of pizza. "It was basically just talking to each other and I didn't had to share anything with them… I was comfortable, yet I didn't move from the couch until the very end of the meeting."

"Seems like you enjoyed yourself, Clarkey." Raven added, probably smirking at the blonde.

"I met a few people of my age. Monty and Jasper are blind because of a laboratory experience that went wrong. They are pretty funny." Clarke explained. "There was also Fox, who is the youngest of the group. She is very shy, but she seems really nice."

"And the one you were talking to, outside of the building? The one with the dog?" Clarke could sense that Octavia really wanted to ask her who she was.

The blonde smiled and answered. "Lexa. She's the first one that talked to me." She thought about what to say else, but she didn't had that much information about the girl. "Her parents own the building… and she has a dog."

"If only you could see her, I swear to _god_ , Princess." Octavia patted Clarke's arm.

"Hey, thanks for reminding me that _I'm blind_." She said with a harsh tone. "What about her?"

"She's _smoking hot_." Raven answered. "You would've totally lose _all your shit_ and be the babbling gay mess you always are around hot girls."

"She has curly brown hair and, like, I've never seen greenest eyes than hers…"

"She's about your height and she looks incredibly toned, plus she wore that leather jacket–"

"And those black skinny thigh jeans–"

"I know you're an ' _ass_ ' girl, Clarke and I can tell you, those jeans on her, you would have drooled over yourself right there. Not kidding." Raven described Lexa and it made Clarke smile even more.

"Shame on me, because I would never get to see her, but you guys do." Clarke said sadly.

The blonde took another piece of pizza into her mouth, trying to imagine how Lexa could possibly look. A girl with curly brown hair, green eyes and an incredibly toned body. If her best friends' description of Lexa was true and Clarke would have been able to see, she would probably acted like Raven said. She knew she was bisexual since a long time ago, when they could throw parties and have fun. Spin the bottle was a game she liked to play, especially because she would get to kiss girls. Octavia and Raven were the only ones to know about Clarke's sexuality, because they were the ones that actually asked her about it. Everyone else only assumed that she was straight.

Even her mother didn't know she was into girls. But Clarke never had a relationship with one, so she never bothered telling her and Abby never brought the subject on the table. Especially not with the recent events, because Clarke stopped dating the day that Finn broke up with her, because it was 'too hard to handle' or something similar. She had her heart broken because she could have really used his support through her father's death and her own blindness. At least, she had Octavia and Raven to help her. Those two were like sisters to her.

"You should ask her out." Raven said and Clarke blinked a few times.

"There's very few chances that she is _both_ blind and into girls."

"Yeah, but you have nothing to lose, Clarkey." The girl continued.

"True." Octavia supported Raven and started giggling. "I would love to see you happy again."

"I could lose the few remaining pieces of my dignity." Clarke tried to reason her best friends.

"Which dignity?" Octavia teased her blind friend and was immediately attacked by a cushion that she avoided with no effort, because it was easy to see it coming. Clarke grumbled a few gentle insults towards her friends and they all started laughing together.

"When are you available to go out?" Raven asked, poking Clarke's shoulder.

"What for?"

"Getting you a doggy-doggy."

"Whenever you guys want." She told them with a bit of excitement in her voice. Since she met Bandit, Lexa's dog, she had been thinking more about getting a guide dog to help her with her everyday routine. Maybe she would be able to get out of the house alone, take public transportations and even go to the market. Having a dog would help her to move from point A to point B and everything else would be so much easier.

"Tomorrow, then?"

"Tomorrow."

"Can I sleep on you couch tonight?" Raven was living on the college's campus and didn't really like her roommate, so she was often staying at the Griffin's house in order to avoid being in her dorm room.

"Of course, and you know you can always sleep in my bed, there's enough room for two in it."

"Yeah yeah, just another way to get me into your bed, Griffin."

* * *

Raven and Octavia stayed over, the evening turning into a sleepover and they all shared Clarke's bed because they were not into a mood to argue who, between the two brunettes, would have to sleep on the living room's couch. It felt good to have them close and Clarke woke up between her two best friends. It always surprised her, seeing how close they were now, especially after the accident. They always had been there for her, even when she needed them the most, while some friends found lame excuses to avoid being around her, just like Finn did before their break up.

She heard the door of her room open and slightly turned her head. "Mom?" She asked and she heard her best friends sighing, because she obviously wake them up. There was a fresh smell of pancakes and bacon that made Clarke's stomach scream in agony; she was really hungry, even after having a few slices of pizza the last evening.

"Good morning sweetheart." Her mom's voice told her. She heard a chuckle and then Clarke realized that Abby just walked on her, being crushed between Octavia and Raven, a mess of entangled arms and legs. She should have called her to let her know her friends were staying over for the night, but her mother was working late and she didn't wanted to bother her while she was at work. Distracting a surgeon could never be good.

"Morning, mom." Clarke said. "Octavia and Raven stayed over."

"Yep, I can see that very much." She answered. "I made pancakes."

"It smells very good."

"Thank you. Now I'll have to do more, so your friends won't starve."

"Did I hear 'pancakes'?" Octavia moved a little in the bed, Clarke figuring that her best friend was looking at Abby. "I would kill for pancakes."

"There's also some bacon."

"Bacon?" Raven was now fully awake. "Please, O., you won't kill anyone for pancakes, you can't even kill a tiny spider."

"Yeah, because spiders are gross and they are more disgusting after you kill them." The other girl answered, making Clarke smile. They always fought over anything and always teased each other.

"Just… be down in five." Abby told them, closing the door, laughing.


	5. Chapter 5

**Hi there! I just wanted to point out that I am not aware of how things go when you adopt a guide dog, so I did a little bit of research on a Canadian site and tried to explain some stuff. I might also have mispelled the word "dog" with "god" yeah because of an inside joke with a friend that follows me while I write, now.**

* * *

After eating the generous breakfast that Abby made them, Clarke, her mother and her best friends drove together to Guide Dog Training Centre. Raven and Octavia insisted to come with them, explaining to the Griffin women how the god needed to have their approval. Clarke knew it was mostly because they wanted to see all dogs and be there with her when she would find the right one for her.

They got out of the car and Clarke immediately recognized the smell of dogs; it was not a pleasant smell, but she knew she would have to deal with it for at least the next thirty minutes. After all, she could not be interested in any animals there and she and Abby would probably look outside of the town for another guide dog. She was not obligated to choose one right away, she supposed that it would be better to have some sort of a connection with the animal.

Raven took Clarke's arm and helped her getting inside the center, followed by her mother and Octavia. She could tell that her best friends were quite excited for her to look for the dogs and it made Clarke happy.

As soon as they were inside the building, they were welcomed by a young woman that Clarke assumed to be just a little older than her – but that was confusing, just because she had to determine it only with the sound of her voice. Abby quickly told her that they were looking for a guide dog for her daughter and the employee understood that the older woman was talking about Clarke, because she had her white cane into her hands and Raven at her arms.

She asked the small group to follow her and they did. The center was huge, according to the blonde. She heard a few barks when they got inside a room and Octavia clapped into her hands, just like a child. "Oh my god, Clarke." She took a deep breath. "So much dogs."

The employee shushed them and they all stopped barking. Almost all of them were quiet, except a few that were whining to get their attention. "How many?" Clarke asked, with a smile on her lips. According to the sounds she heard, she assumed that there was over fifteen dogs in the center.

"Uh, like, at least 25." Raven told her.

"Actually, there are currently 32 dogs in the center." The female employee explained. "We have more, of course, but they are still in training and need to be supervised a lot."

"32 dogs." Clarke muttered to herself. "They all are reacting well to orders."

"They are trained since they are around 7 weeks of age. They are given to 'puppy walker', families that will raise the dogs to be socialized and put them into everyday environment as much as possible. When they are old enough, the families will give us the dogs to complete the training here, at the Guide Dog Training Centre." Clarke nodded and the girl kept explaining about the animals. "They are not to pet whey they are working and they all have a high level of concentration."

"What kind of dog do you train?" Clarke asked the employee.

"We mostly train larger breed of dogs. Here, we have a few German Sheppard, Bernese Mountain, Golden Retrievers, Labrador Retrievers and Border Collie." She answered. "Are you looking for one kind in particular?"

"Not really, I didn't think that there would be that much guide dogs in here, to be honest."

"We always make sure that we have a lot, because choosing a dog would also mean choosing a partner for your everyday life. I doubt you will give the animal back, once you have it. People rarely does."

"And you really need another buddy, Clarke." Octavia added, nudging the blonde in her ribs, making her chuckle.

"Yeah, it would definitely help me to have one."

"Are we allowed to pet them?" Abby asked to the young employee.

"Of course, but only one at the time. If you want, Clarke, they can also guide you through the training parkour." She suggested the blonde.

"I would like that too, testing if I'm comfortable." Raven let go of her best friend's arm and Clarke started to walk towards the closest whining, figuring that it was where the cages would be. Her cane bumped into a cage and she felt the dog moving towards it, greeting Clarke with its tongue. The animal licked the blonde's finger and Clarke smiled.

She traveled from cages to cages, being licked several times by the dogs, mentally keeping notes from the ones that greeted her with much enthusiasm. She walked in front of the 20th cage and put her fingers through the fence. She felt a muzzle poking her, while the dog sniffed her fingers.

The employee, that was quietly following her, told her the name of the dog. "This one is a German Sheppard. His name is Domino and he's a year and a half. He is very calm."

"Could you take him out of the cage?" Clarke asked, a grin on her lips. She wanted to properly meet the dog, how it reacted around her. Maybe if she liked the animal, she could let it guide her into the training parkour.

She employee opened the door within the next few seconds. "Domino, come here." The blonde asked and the dog slowly walked in front of her, then sat. Its head reached for Clarke's hand, sniffing again and then licking. The dog was very gentle with every movement it made.

Clarke felt comfortable to crouch, after a moment, and be at the dog's height. "Hey boy, how are ya'?" She asked and she heard Octavia or Raven chuckle behind her. She couldn't care less, just because her thoughts were so focused on the dog. She ran her hands through its fur, petting it slowly, touching the animal's floppy ears. "You must be really cute."

The dog barked, just like it understood what she said, then licked her cheek without any warning. Clarke giggled and wiped her face with her arm. "You're such a sweetie." She pet the animal once more, then stood up. "I like him."

Octavia, Raven and Abby walked towards them and Clarke definitely heard Raven talking like a 5 years old to the dog, calling him a 'puppy' and 'good looking boy' a few times. "I think I want to do the training parkour with him." She told to the Guide Dog Training Center's employee.

"Okay, let me just put him his harness and get him ready. It'll only take five minutes, you are free to look at other dogs in the meantime." She informed the small group of women, then Clarke heard her footsteps fading with the distance.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

After looking for the other dogs of the Training Center and walking around with the German Sheppard, Clarke's interest were only on Domino. She liked everything about that dog; it was kind and followed every orders the blonde gave him, except what could put her into a dangerous situation. It was incredible how that animal was talented.

Clarke told her mother that she wanted this dog and Abby agreed. The employee informed them that they would need to get back there three times the same week, just so they could evaluate how the animal reacted around Clarke. It was also a training for the blonde, because they needed her to know how to follow her new guide and interpret its actions.

The next time she would show up at the Guide Dog Training Center, Domino would come back home with her after their training. It was preferable that it got used to Clarke's presence and the best way to do so was to spend an entire day and night with her.

Clarke felt like, for the first time since the accident, everything was getting better for her. Getting a dog was a step towards her mental recovery and she knew it would help a lot. She would be able to get outside with Domino, just to take a walk or go to the market. She could do so many things and never be alone, because she had a dog, now.

Laying in her bedroom that same day, the blonde smiled as she was trying to get asleep. She was thinking about all the things she would do, now that Domino would be there to lead the way. She surprised herself, thinking about the Tuesday meeting. It would do no harm to her to show up again, right? Her thoughts drifted on Lexa and she visualized the hot brunette her friends described to her, in the morning. Yes, she was definitely going to the next group meeting.

* * *

 **I suck at giving names to dog, so yeah. Don't worry, Lexa will be in the next chapter!**


End file.
